Trial court officials are probing the Worcester Probate and Family Court’s fiscal operations and the job duties of Paul V. LaCava, a top aide to Register of Probate Stephen G. Abraham, after a state audit found financial and personnel irregularities in the register’s office.

The 2011 audit report by state Auditor Suzanne M. Bump determined that Mr. LaCava taught courses at three colleges during work hours, and pointed to loose accountability for workers in the probate office.

Meanwhile, auditors from the Administrative Office of the Trial Court have been at the register’s office this week, and fiscal reviews by the Trial Court have been conducted during the past year since Ms. Bump’s Dec. 7, 2011, audit of the probate and family court, according to Trial Court spokeswoman Joan Kenney.

Trial Court officials said they also are “actively working on issues” raised in Ms. Bump’s most recent post-audit review, which was issued Jan. 22 and focused on Mr. LaCava’s job performance and time and attendance.

That report noted that the Trial Court was supposed to review issues related to Mr. LaCava’s job by the end of 2012.

An earlier post-audit review, issued on Sept. 24, 2012, and based solely on the reporting of Mr. Abraham’s own office, reported that probate and family court officials implemented all six of the state auditor’s recommendations.

The key actions, as reported to the auditor, were re-educating employees about proper procedures on time and attendance reporting, and developing controls strengthening the supervisory oversight of the collection of fees.

Christopher Thompson, a spokesman for Ms. Bump’s office, said the auditor’s office generally verifies self-reporting by state agencies during regularly scheduled audits, which are typically done every three years.

The auditor’s 2011 report found that in addition to Mr. LaCava’s college teaching, “proper time and attendance records for employees of the Register of Probate’s Office were not kept.”

Also, the audit found that about $3,500 in filing fees for domestic relations cases were missing and not reported to the auditor’s office as required by state law. Mr. Abraham attributed the missing funds to a bookkeeping error.

Mr. LaCava’s official title is head administrative assistant, a court position for which he was paid $68,487 in 2012, according to state payroll records.

The 2011 audit determined, however, that Mr. LaCava, a former Worcester assistant city manager, performed only three of the 19 duties listed in his union job description, and failed to carry out 16 higher-level duties such as budgeting and fiscal planning.

Ms. Bump’s office also said that while officials in the register’s office told them that Mr. LaCava functioned more as a special assistant register of probate, a non-union position, he did not meet the minimum educational and experience requirements for that job.

Mr. LaCava, 62, graduated from the former Worcester State College in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology, and from Assumption College with a Master of Business Administration degree in 1987, according to school officials.

In an email, Ms. Kenney, the Trial Court spokeswoman, said, “staff from the Trial Court’s Human Resources Department is compiling information regarding the duties and job responsibilities of the Head Administrative Assistant in the Worcester Register’s Office, and a meeting there is planned.”

Mr. LaCava did not return a call seeking comment. Mr. Abraham, who was first elected to the $110,000-a-year register’s post in 2003 when he was still a Worcester city councilor, did not respond to specific questions for this story.

The 2011 Bump audit found that from July 1, 2008, to May 31, 2010 — the spring 2009 and fall 2010 semesters — Mr. LaCava taught 21 courses at Quinsigamond, Worcester State and Curry College during times when probate and family court records showed that he was working in the registry office.

“Based on the information provided to us, it appears that (Mr. LaCava) was paid by the (Worcester Probate and Family Court) for hours in which the individual did not work, and no leave time was used to account for his absence,” the auditors wrote.

State payroll records show that Mr. LaCava apparently made $2,163 last year at Quinsigamond Community College, where he is still a part-time instructor in sociology. Mr. LaCava also is still listed on the Curry College website as a lecturer in criminal justice and sociology. He is no longer on the payroll at Worcester State, where he was an adjunct professor of urban studies at the school in 2010 and 2011.

After the 2011 audit, Mr. LaCava was not disciplined, though Mr. Abraham said Mr. LaCava no longer taught during standard work hours. At the time, Mr. Abraham defended his subordinate, saying he permitted Mr. LaCava to take on the teaching jobs.

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